Carton



Patented Jan. 18, 1927. s

UNITED STATESv PATENT OFFICE.

BEGINALD B. MELLER, F ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA.

CARTON.

Application aled January 31, 1925. Serial No. 6,006.

can be readily opened without mutilatingany part of it. Y

The invention poesses other ob]ects and features of advantage, some ofwhich ,with the foregoing will be set forth in the following descriptionof the preferred form of my invention, which is illustrated in thedrawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. IIt is tobe understood that I do not limit myself to the showing made in saiddrawings and description, as I may adopt variations of the preferredform within the scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to the drawlngs Figure 1 is a perspective vlew of the cart0nof my invention,'the stippled portions:

indicating the parts covered by the sealing material. v

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of my carton showing amodlfied form of end closure.

Figure 3 is a perspective vlew of the c arton shown in Figure 2, withthe end open to show the structure.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the carton.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the carton shown in Flgure 1, with theend open to show the structure.

'- Figure 6 is a perspective view ofthe open cartonz showing anothermodification of the 40 invention.

Broadly my invention comprises acarton, the lateral sides of which aresecured together in tubular form and have a pended iaps to form theclosure for the en s. lhe

flaps on two of the oppositely disposed sldes have 'tabs which in closedposition each lie against the surface of the op osite side, one on theinside and one on t e outside. When the package is filled and ready tol0 be sealed, the ends of the closed carton are passed thru a shallowbath of sealing material which not only renders the package air tight,but adhesively unites the aps in closed position. The bath' of sealingmate- Il rial is preferably so shallowthat it extends over only aportion of the tab lying on the outside, so that the uncovered end ofthe tab may be readil caught by the fingers and the tab stripped hack toopen the package. A package sealed in this manner can'bc easily openedwithout mutilating an part` of the carton, so that the contents of theopened package can be protected after the seal has been roken by foldingin the end flaps, which will make a tight closure, tho not a sealed one.

There are many types of packagesV now I being used, but as far as I amaware, none `of them are air tight, without the addition of an auxiliarycovering o1' linin and they cannot be opened without partiay destroyingthem. The housewife is constantly faced with the problem of protectingthe contents of partially emptied cartons, as the original containers,when opened, are frcquently torn to such an extent that they cannotsubsequently be closed. My invention contemplates a carton which is airtight in itself, and which can be used to hold the product directly, orused for a container' for enclosure in a heavier carton which may be ofthe usual form. The carton may be made of untreated paper, but I preferto use a paraiined paper or board. The folding `operation is simple andlends itself readily to automatic machine performance.

A carton made in accordance with my in-y vention is sufliciently strongfor handling and shipping, but at the-same time is readily opened bylstripping back the tab secured upon t e side by the adhesivesealingmmaterial.

detail my invention comprises a carton having lateral sides 11, 12, 13and 14 secured together in tubular form, and provided on each end withflaps 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively. -The oppositely ldisposed flaps 16and 18 may be of any suitable length and in some instances I have foundit advisable to make them long enough to touch each other, as shown inFi re 5, and in other instances it is preferab e to make them shorter.as shown in Figure 3.y The main object of these fiaps is to reinforcethe lfolds adjacent the sides 13 and 11, and this `is true regardless oftheir leno'th. The iiap 17 is provided with a tab 21 willich is foldedinwardly and rests against the inner surface of the side 14. The' flap19 is provided with a tab 22, similar tothe tab 21, but which folds overand rests upon the outersurface of the side 12.

To seal the ends and to secure the flaps and tabs in position, thecarton is closed, and held in closed position, while first one end andthe other is passed thru a shallow bath of sealing material, preferablypar-l aiine. .Before the carton is released it'may be moved upon a coldplate or sub'ected to a current of cooling fluid, for a su cient time toharden the sealin material, so that the flaps are adhesively eld toether and an air tight package is formedz. I have found it advisable togauge the de th of the sealing material so as to permit t e tab 22 toextend above the portion coated.' This facilitates opening the package,as'the unsecured end of the tab forms a convenient rip. y g The sha e ofthe tabs 21 and 22 as illustrated inA igures 1 and may not be de--sirable in some cases and to meet other requirements, I provide analternative form as shownin Fi ure 3. In this form, the flap 17 is provied with two tabs 31, which are-folded inwardly to lie against the innersurface of the side 14. The use of these spaced tabs offers anotheradvantage, in that they produce a recess bordered by the ed e 32 betweenthe tabs which permits the ready insertion of the finger end to lifttheinner flap. The flap 19 is provided with a narrow tab 33 which operatesin the same manner as the tab 22, but which is less likely to catch andbe accidentally opened. Another advantage of this structure lies in thefact that the blanks may be cut with greater economy of material, sincethe single tab of one blank lies between the double tabs of the adjacentblank.

In Figure 6 I have shown another embodiment of my invention. Frequentlyit is desired to have a ready discharge from a package which can beclosed after the desired amount of the contents of the package have beenremoved. For this purpose, I partially sever a portion 36 in the innerflap 17. During the sealing step the inner flap 17 becomes fixed tothewhen the outer flap 19 is stripped back, the partially severed portionadheres to its inner surface, thus forming an aperture in the closedinner flap thru which the contents of .Well to the manufacture of myouter flap so thatthe package may be discharged, without opening theinner flap. After the desired amount of the contents of the carton havebeen removed and the package closed a close contact is made between thetwo flaps so that a higher degree of protection to the remainin contentsof the package is offered than has en heretofore possible.

Paraiiined board lends itself particularly carton, as the paraiiine onthe' board has, a tendency to coalesce during the sealing process, sothat the inner flaps as well as the outer flaps are sealed. This innersealing greatly aids and strengthens the air tight end and, due to thethinness of the coat of parailine, the seal is readily broken and openedwithout mutilating the carton.

I claim:

1. A folded carton having an vend flap the end ,of which forms a taboverlying one of the lateral side portions of the carton, and

`a coating of sealing material over the end flap and a portion ofthe tabfor holding the Hap and tab in position'and forming an air tight end.

2. A package vcomprising opposite side portions each having an extensionforming an end flap and a tab, the tabs on the end flaps lying againstthe surfaces of the side portions, one on the inside and one on theoutside, and a sealing material closing the exposed joints and formingthe sole means for holding the outer flap in position.

3. A folded carton having an end flap the end of which forms a taboverlying one of the lateral side portions of the carton, said end flaplying Wholly without said carton, and a coating of sealing material overthe end flap and a portion of the tab for holding the flap and tab inposition.

4. The method of sealing and retaining a folded carton in folded formwhich comprises passing the folded portions of the carton thru a shallowbath of sealing material while holding the folded portions in position,'and permitting the sealing material to harden before releasing thecarton.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. v

REGINALD B. MELLER.

